December 7th is the 79th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Today, we remember the people killed in the attack, and honor the survivors and veterans.
On this day in 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. 2,403 service members and civilians were killed, and an additional 1,178 people were injured in the bombings that also sank two battleships (the USS Arizona and the USS Utah) and destroyed 188 aircraft. It’s no wonder President Franklin D. Roosevelt called this “a date which will live in infamy”.
Each year, the National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Commemoration is held at the Visitors Center. The opening keynote is followed with a minute of silence at 7:55 am – the exact minute the Japanese attack began. This is followed by a missing man flyover, music by the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet Band, a Hawaiian blessing, wreath presentations, a rifle salute by the U.S. Marine Corps, a vintage aircraft flyover, and Echo Taps in recognition of the men and women who survived the attack and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country on December 7, 1941.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s ceremony at Pearl Harbor National Memorial will be broadcast live so that you can join the anniversary commemoration remotely. The broadcast will feature a number of wreath laying ceremonies at military installations around Oahu that were attacked on December 7, 1941.
The park will not be open to the public during the morning virtual ceremony, but will be open after the ceremony.
